Franz Anton Mesmer

1734-1815

Biography

 1734 Franz Anton Mesmer was born in the village of Iznag, Germany.

 His father a forester for the archbishop of Konstanz. He was the third of nine children. Mesmer was Catholic.

  1752 Begin studies at monastic school in Konstanz.

 He studied philosophy at an Jesuit university of Dillingen, Bavaria. He change to theology.

  1753 He continued studies at University of Ingolstadt.

 Mesmer received his doctorate in philosophy but it is not known where or when.

   1759  He went to Vienna to study law, but changed to medicine.

 1768 Mesmer married a wealthy widow; Maria Anna von Posh this gave him social prominence.

   1770  Mesmer was influenced by Father Johann Gassner's hypnotic techniques.

This led to Mesmer's theory of  animal magnetism because he thought that the crucifix that the father was using , which was metal was healing the people through.

  1778 Mesmer left Vienna for Paris  because the people were becoming very suspicious of his work, because his popularity caused jealousy among his colleagues.

  1786 He received medical doctorate. His dissertation was on the influence of the planets on human.

  1815  Mesmer died.

Mesmer's Method

"Mesmer would sit in front of the patient with his knees touching the patients' knees. He would press the patients thumbs into his hands and look passionately into the patients eyes. Then move his hands from the patients shoulders down along the arm and then press fingers on the area below the diaphragms, sometimes holding his hands there for hours. Patients would have convulsions and sensations."

-From a chapter in Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France

Mesmer Influence

Marquis de Puysegur came across the hypnotic state by mistake. Puysegur was a follower of Mesmer. He rubbed the boy's head until he went into a deep sleep. Puysegur tried to awake the boy by giving him demands. the boy responded to the demands. When the boy awoke he didn't remember any thing that happened. (serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/Trance.html)

Puysegur technique was popular and was used by many. Charles Poyen de Saint Sauveur  brought his technique to the United States. it was grouped with Phrenology and influenced William James. http://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2004/james.htm

Mesmer's  technique lead to what we know now as hypnotism.

1843 The term hypnotism and hypnosis was coined by James Braid, a Scottish surgeon.

He found that people would go into trances by fixating their eyes on a bright object.

There has been many views on the hypnotic movement  , psychologists and professionals such as Jean Martin Charcot who was a neurologist concluded that hypnosis was like a small seizure, Hippolyte Bernheim a professor of Medicine in Paris thought that hypnosis was a special type of sleeping and Clark Hull  a psychologist thought that hypnosis was a normal part of human nature and began doing experiments in the 1920's. In our world today hypnosis is not only being used for medicine but in fields such as psychology and dentistry.  Mark, R. (2002)

References

Darnton, r. (1968. Mesmerism and the end of the enlightment in France.  Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University.

Fancher, E.R.(1996). Pioneers of Psychology. New York: Castle House.

Mark, R. (2002). The History of Hypnosis. retrieved 05/07/2004.www.essortment.com/hypnosishistory_rcdg.htm.

Trance & Trauma. functional Nervous disorder and the subconscious Mind. Retrieved April 20, 2004 . serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/Trance.html